Chapter 19, True Identity
"You bastard!"
Jiang Hou slapped Lu Zirou across the face.
“I told you long ago that the study is not a place for you to play around, but you two insisted on eavesdropping and didn’t understand anything.”
Lu Zirou's mind was filled with questions, what... what was that saying...?
"Your Majesty, I have difficulty walking. I only asked the Director of Studies to pay the tuition fees for my two children and to help me buy some suitable books and stationery!"
"These two children saw me give them money and started making wild guesses. Why didn't you ask your father? Now look what happened! Siye was just trying to help me out, and he only did so because you are the children of General Xia's cousin. I never expected that you would ruin my reputation!"
Jiang Hou was so angry he almost hit someone, but he managed to restrain himself in front of the Emperor. How could he have encountered such a fool?
"Siye, I'm so sorry. The child is still young. It's my fault as the stepfather for not raising him well. I'm really sorry!" Jiang Hou turned to Siye.
"Your Majesty, this is what happened. It was my oversight that things turned out this way!" Siye explained repeatedly, echoing Jiang Hou's words.
"Father, I was wrong, I know I was wrong..."
"Uncle Siye, Zirou really didn't mean it!" Lu Zirou's words were incoherent. Jiang Hou had never hit her, at least not in her previous life.
Siye ignored her; who knew what else this silly child might say?
"Waaah, I know I was wrong...!" Lu Zirou suddenly had a sudden inspiration and started crying.
She's only a 6-year-old child. Who can argue with a child about so much? At this time, it's natural to make good use of this advantage.
She was crying sobbing, her little shoulders were shaking, and she looked so pitiful.
"Your Majesty, these two children are naive and inexperienced. I have always wanted to nurture them properly, but unfortunately, they have only been with me for a short time, which is why they have made such a fool of themselves. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Jiang Hou immediately knelt down and begged for forgiveness.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Siye hurriedly begged for forgiveness, feeling a sense of relief.
Receiving money can be a big deal or a small deal, and the amount may not be large, but at this critical juncture, it can be fatal.
If something were to happen to His Highness the Crown Prince, and it was caused by this incident, then we would be finished.
Fortunately, Jiang Hou didn't want to cause any more trouble, and his explanation matched Jiang Hou's. The two had been friends for many years and had a tacit understanding.
"Hmph, even if it's a misunderstanding, the damage has already been done, are you just going to let it go like this!" Old Yu glanced coldly at Marquis Jiang.
"Xia Yurou is quite a figure among women, how could she have fallen for such a thing!" Old Yu's voice wasn't loud, but everyone present heard it.
Old Yu was annoyed and disliked unruly children, so he couldn't help but add fuel to the fire.
Lord Jiang was heartbroken, and the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.
[Ding dong, congratulations host, you have gained 100 debt collection points, balance 3300]
Jiang Ruanruan, who had been eavesdropping since waking up, was overjoyed. Clearly, she was the one who caused this, and the points were now credited to her.
Now we can really make money without lifting a finger.
The emperor frowned, somewhat hesitant. Lu Zirou and her brother were only six years old; it was truly difficult to punish them.
"What did Eighth Brother do to deserve this? He finally got a chance, and it's been interrupted like this. Father, are you just going to let this matter go like this?"
The 12th prince was very unhappy about his failed promotion.
The emperor, however, had other thoughts. General Xia was a member of the Jiang family. Punishing the Jiang family at this time would make it difficult to reveal the matter of the crown prince. If the outside world thought that he had punished the Jiang family for no reason, they would think that the emperor was heartless.
"Alright, we'll decide on this matter after the Crown Prince wakes up. You may all leave!"
The emperor waved his hand, dismissing everyone.
"My son and daughter..." Jiang Hou wanted to leave, but at this moment he also thought of his unfilial son and daughter, and felt angry.
If these two hadn't insisted on studying at the Imperial Academy, none of this would have happened.
"Father, in my opinion, it would be better to let them stay in the palace to recuperate. We still need to investigate how they came to enter meditation together!"
"More importantly, if we go back like this, who knows how Marquis Jiang will treat these two children!" The 12th Prince turned around and looked coldly at Marquis Jiang; this feud had been formed.
Applying eye drops is necessary.
"Your humble servant dares not..." Marquis Jiang lowered his head in fear, feeling guilty that his thoughts had been seen through.
"Alright, let's stay in the palace for now..."
The emperor made a final decision on the matter, and the three officials—Jiang Hou, Siye, and Jijiu—were directly expelled from the palace.
The Emperor did not allow them to leave, and the three dared not leave either. If the Crown Prince were to wake up at any moment, they would have to see how the Emperor would punish them.
But that means a whole night has passed.
The Emperor seemed to have completely forgotten about their existence, leaving Lord Jiang to fend for himself and two others.
She was holding an unconscious Lu Ziyuan in her arms, and next to her was Lu Zirou, whose eyes were red and who was crying.
It was freezing cold outside. Jiang Hou, who already had a limp, was carrying a child and felt cold, tired, and his legs ached.
[Ding dong, congratulations host, you have gained 10 debt collection points, +10 +10...]
The longer Jiang Ruanruan stood outside, the voice in her mind never stopped.
Inside, it was very warm, but Physician Liu was sweating profusely, having encountered a problem.
"Imperial Physician Liu, how are the Crown Prince and the others now?" the Emperor inquired.
“There’s…something strange…” Physician Liu looked up at Old Man Yu.
It's a bit hard to understand. It's not that being interrupted while in meditation will cause things like going into a demonic state, reversing veins, or dying. It's about something supernatural.
But why are these three people not so much unconscious, but rather as if they were too tired and fell into a deep sleep?
"What are you looking at me for? Just say it!" Old Yu was baffled by the stare.
"Aside from a slight fever, the other symptoms are somewhat like...like being too tired and falling asleep!" Physician Liu said, mustering his courage.
"Your temperature has gone down a bit now, so you should be fine, right?" Doctor Liu asked Old Master Yu.
"You're asking me?" Old Yu was speechless. This was the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, a quack doctor, wasn't he?
"Yes, Dr. Yu, although I am a doctor, I don't know what the aftereffects of entering a meditative state might be. Could you please take another look?"
"I'm just afraid that my diagnosis might be wrong, which would delay treatment and wouldn't be good!"
Physician Liu threw away this hot potato.
Old Yu, upon hearing this, also became somewhat suspicious and went to check back and forth.
After a long pause, he said with a puzzled look, "It should be fine, right? Let's keep observing!" He really couldn't figure it out.
There was nothing wrong with the meridians, and nothing went wrong either. Especially those two kids who were reading books, how could they get dizzy just from reading a book?
Jiang Ruanruan drifted off to sleep amidst the occasional system notifications.
I woke up again a day later.
"Finally awake!" The emperor came here to review memorials after the morning court session, keeping an eye on the three children.
"Ahem, Ruan Ruan, this is my father, the Emperor. I am the Crown Prince. I didn't intentionally hide my identity!"
“Actually, my real name is Li Yunzhi. You can still call me Brother Yunzhi… or Brother Pear!” Li Yunzhi said.
Jiang Ruanruan stared wide-eyed, completely bewildered.
Good heavens, Li Yunzhi is the eighth-ranking Crown Prince, and that emperor is none other than him.
"Greetings, Father Emperor!" Jiang Ruanruan's eyes sparkled as she knelt down to pay her respects.
emperor……
Li Yunzhi blushed... Was he really that direct?
I just opened my eyes and thought I was dreaming, Jiang Huai'an... I closed my eyes again and quickly went back to sleep. The earlier I go to sleep, the earlier I'll wake up.
In the cold winter, he had forgotten all about it, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips.
"What's going on? This child is delirious from the fever..." The emperor realized that he had heard that the eldest daughter of the Jiang family had gone mad, and now it seemed that it was indeed true.
"Father, Ruan Ruan asked me to be her childhood sweetheart, and I agreed..."
“What…” A voice rang out, but it wasn’t the emperor; it was the empress at the door.
The truth will eventually come out; the Empress already knew yesterday and stayed up all night before returning home this morning.
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